TomJH

I grew up doing Curly impersonations. There were a lot of "Nyuk, nyuk, nyuks" and "Woo-woo-woos" in my life. It's hard to get that stuff completely out of your system. I later learned, though, that they didn't go over so well on dates. I did, however, borrow a Groucho line that went over big, "When a woman has dinner with me I expect her to look me in the face. It's the price she has to pay."

Okay, this isn't from movies, of course, but the best of the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoons that I saw and loved as a kid still make me laugh. While I have grown away from the Disney Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck cartoons I also saw as a young person, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the other Warners cartoon characters can still have me in stitches, at times. Of course the Looney Tunes cartoons, while children can enjoy them, were designed primarily for adults who would watch them in the theatres along with feature films. I think that, along with the brilliance of their animation and vocal artists (Mel Blanc, in particular) makes the best of these gems could up well today. Mickey Mouse may still be the most famous cartoon character in the world but I'll take that immortal "He don't know me very well, do he? Of course you know this means war" rabbit over him any day.

Here's an old thread that hasn't seen the light in a few years. I thought I might revive it because of the discussion regarding Cooper and Wayne in the who's the greatest westerner thread.

Wayne, rabidly anti-Commie, placed pressure on Cooper to drop out of High Noon because Carl Foreman, a former member of the party, was producer and writer of the film. Cooper didn't bow to the pressure (from a lot of Hollywood conservative sources, not just Wayne) and went on to get an Oscar for his portrayal of Marshall Will Kane. Wayne would later disparage High Noon, considering it "un-American" because its story features a town turning its back on the sheriff and failing to support him (an analogy by writer Foreman to Hollywood turning its back on him during the Red scare). Wayne and Howard Hawks later made Rio Bravo as their "answer" to High Noon's story. When the Oscars were being handed out for 1952, however, Cooper was making a film in Mexico and asked Wayne if he would pick up the award at the ceremony for him if he won. Wayne agreed and here's where the hypocrisy comes in. When Wayne stood before the Motion Picture Academy with Coop's Oscar in his hand he asked why his agent hadn't gotten him a shot at playing the sheriff in the film. Take a listen to the phony here, if you don't believe me. Foreman would soon be forced to leave Hollywood and travel to England in get work. Prior to that, however, he announced that he was going to start a new company as producer and Gary Cooper announced to the media that he was going to participate with Foreman in this new business venture. This time the pressure placed on Cooper to drop out was tremendous, with Hollywood big shots telling him he'd never get a good role in the industry again. Even Foreman told Coop he better bow out because of the threats the actor was receiving and finally Cooper did. Years later, though, when Carl Foreman recalled the early '50s Red Scare period in Hollywood he credited Gary Cooper as being the only big name in the industry that tried to help him. Wayne fans here may want to rank him over Cooper as the greatest western star of the movies but when it comes to behind the scenes activities in early '50s Hollywood I suspect many would be more impressed by the courage demonstrated by modest, quiet Coop at the time.

Couldn't agree more. Anyone care to fill us in in on the details?

It looks like a winner.

Can I help it if I was conditioned by the old software? I'd like to sucker punch the guy who created this new version. "Oh, you would, eh? Well, join the club. A lot of people around here would like to meet me, I understand."

I recall an incident with some embarrassment prompted by my 7-year-old hero worship of Errol Flynn. I had just seen Silver River, a western in which Errol played a bit of a rat, for a change, but, to my young mind, he was still my hero. There's a scene in which Flynn sucker punches Barton MacLane before crashing a chair over his head. MacLane is his usual objectionable self in the film but Flynn's dispatch of him is still, in retrospect, quite ruthless. As a young Flynn fan, though, I didn't see it that way and revelled in the moment. So as soon as the film finished I called on my best friend, Stevie, and walked with him to a spot near our houses. I then placed my hand on his shoulder (just like Flynn did to MacLane in the film) and punched him in the stomach. Thank goodness there was no chair nearby. Stevie ran home crying and I wandered in a slightly bewildered state back to my home, not feeling so good about myself. What had looked so cool when Flynn did it on my TV just an hour or so before didn't feel so cool when I did it to poor unsuspecting Stevie. Besides, Barton MacLane was a louse in the film and Stevie wasn't. Feeling guilty about my behaviour, I made a full confession of it to my Mom who insisted that I immediately go to Stevie's house and apologize to him. I took a slow, very slow, walk over to Stevie's place. His mother answered the door, with Stevie, still sniffling, peering out at me from behind her. I stumbled out some kind of apology to him and left. Well, Stevie eventually forgave me, bless him, and I never again let a scene in a movie influence me into any act of violence again. If there's a lesson to be learned here I suppose it's in regard to the malleability of some minds when it comes to those flickering images on the screen. My age at the time is my only excuse. I haven't seen Stevie in decades now and I remember him with affection, but I hope he found a better class of friend than he had then. Or, at least, one not quite so easily influenced by the movies.

Hey, I can almost see a flickering old image of Moe boinking Curly on the head on your set now!

I can just envision a conversation between Stanwyck and her He Who Shall Not be Named co-star. "You know, No Name, when I first met you I thought you were a real cold fish. But now that I've gotten to know you, boy, was I right!" "I have to say, Miss Stanwyck, I'm hard pressed to think of anything I could care less about than your opinion of anything. Having said that, you're probably the best friend I've ever had."

World Premiere (1941) Crazy screwball farce about undercover Nazi and Italian agents out to sabotage the world premiere of "The Earth's On Fire," a Hollywood anti-Nazi propaganda film. This Paramount production is noteworthy for its cast, headed by John Barrymore as over-the-top film producer Duncan DeGrasse, Frances Farmer (in a long black wig) as a temperamental film star, Ricardo Cortez as an egotistical womanizing actor afraid of his own shadow, and a constantly hollering Eugene Pallette as a studio head. As directed by Ted Tetzlaff, this farce has more energy than style but at least it moves and its cast of character actors alone may keep some amused. Low billed but stealing the film in many respects are the eccentric performances of the actors playing the Axis undercover agents, Sig Rumann, Luis Alberni and, in a particularly off the wall performance, Fritz Feld. Feld plays a Nazi cuckoo clock who at one point tackles and out fights a tiger (yes, I said tiger) guarding DeGrasse's film in a cage, making the animal submit by tying its tail in knots and biting it. Barrymore ended his career in a series of "B" comedies, this being his second last film. There's no subtlety to his portrayal. Heavily made up with dark eye shadow, he snorts and screams, rolls his Rs in Shakesperean fashion as he reads his inane lines off chalkboards. The Great Profile may have been slumming it when he accepted his role but no one can say he still didn't try to give a fun show with this ham portrayal. Yet, despite the silliness of the proceedings and his performance there was still, even at this late stage in his career, a certain grandeur about Barrymore. He was still an actor who commanded attention, even as he deliberately assaulted his own reputation as "great actor." For whatever reason World Premiere is a difficult film to find. The sub par quality copy I saw of the production was from a public domain DVD company. 2.5 out of 4

I was raised on films from the studio system days so perhaps, unlike some others who didn't see the kind of films now so common place on TCM until their later years, it's easier for me to wax nostalgically about those films I saw as a kid and call many of them favourites today. In particular I saw a lot of films from Warner Brothers, so became very familiar with the likes of Cagney, Bogart and Flynn at a very young age. Many of these films were on late at night but there were also a lot of broadcasts from various television stations of old films during the day, as well. It was, therefore, at a very early age that I became a fan of films from the studio system days. A special treat for me, living in the Toronto area, was Friday nights when there would be a late night horror double feature every week from WKBW in Buffalo, for a while memorably hosted by Adam Keefe, a Dracula imitator who, for all I know, may have inspired Joe Flaherty's Count Floyd spoof on SCTV years later. I even wrote Keefe a fan letter at the time. I ended the letter by saying, "If you can send me your autograph, fangs a lot. If not, fangs for nothing." Maybe he didn't find it as funny as I thought it was because I didn't hear back from him. In any event it was in this time slot that I saw many of the Universal horror films starring Chaney, Karloff and Lugosi, for which I still have a strong affection today.

I was definitely into the Universal horror monsters, as well, and still on occasion put them on. This year I've watched the first four Frankenstein films they made, along with Son of Dracula. Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf Man was a particular favourite of mine as a kid, prompting a fan letter to him. Unlike Rathbone, he replied.

How could I forget? Tarzan! And by that I mean Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan! These jungle epics came on TV all the time on Saturday afternoons when I was a kid and I still get a kick out of them, even if they aren't great works of art. Maybe particularly because they have no illusions of being great works of art. Johnny may not have gotten too may Oscar nominations but he looked great in a loin cloth and could really swing on that vine. He also had a way with animals (he would meet them to become acquainted with them before the cameras rolled) and was never injured by any of them (unlike Ron Ely in the Tarzan TV series). Most agree that the MGM series of the '30s, with Maureen O'Sullivan was the best, in particularly the pre-code Tarzan and His Mate (from which that posted picture is taken). But I also enjoyed the later RKO efforts of the mid to late '40s with a somewhat chunkier Johnny and always had a soft spot for Brenda Joyce's Jane. I vaguely recall Maureen O'Sullivan appearing on some TV talk show years later (Mike Douglas?) and regarding Cheetah as a nasty little brute. She also said that Cheetah (I guess there were a few Cheetahs, actually) literally got aroused by Johnny so they had to be careful not to photograph him from the waist down, at times. I guess this is one of the problems you have when you're a hunky guy in a loin cloth, a turned on monkey following you around.

Yup, The Haunting's a good one. And there was no Bond around to help Moneypenny.

Edmond O'Brien was a rat's rat doing that to a man, psychotic or not, who befriended him. Look, I know that O'Brien is one of the "good guys" and we're better off without Cody. But it seems to me his annoyance that Cody wouldn't stay down after he shot him and his "What's holding him up?" comment make him one cold blooded bastard. Ahh, yeah, I guess you could say I still haven't forgiven him, Dargo. Even as I kid I knew there was something about O'Brien in this film I just didn't like.

Just to let you know that I, unlike many here, it seems, still have the call to many of my childhood favourites for viewing sessions today, here are some more that made me either laugh or cheer when I was a wee tot and can still get a sentimental reaction out of me today: The Three Stooges, as long as it's a Curly. When Curly is showing an infant's frustration as he tries to eat clam soup with a live clam in it I still find myself breaking up. Bing and Bob in any of their '40s Road comedies. These two had great chemistry and a sense of spontaneity when they were together that still engages me. They Drive By Night. I saw this truck driving melodrama a lot on TV as a kid and fell head over heels in love with Ann Sheridan. The lady still knocks me out in this film, as well as most of her other films made during the '40s. Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. Unsophisticated, to put it mildly, were the sands-and-sex wartime epics with Maria Montez in glorious Technicolor. Of course they are corny as heck but they still have a pull on the child in me. May a thousand fleas from a camel invade your home if you don't agree with me. Jimmy Cagney as Cody Jarrett. Even as a kid I guess I knew a great actor when I saw one, and the film has a drive in its tale of a psychotic hood spiralling out of control that pulls me in for a repeat viewing every few years.

I'm a little surprised that childhood nostalgia doesn't play a bigger role in the selection of film favourites for many of you than it does. I was impressed, though, that the precise computer-like mind of one was able to calculate that exactly 14.25% of his favs are from childhood viewings. I have a friend who, like me, is an Errol Flynn fan and said that he prefers Against All Flags, one of the actor's last swashbucklers, made when he was starting to look a little tired, to Captain Blood. Against All Flags over Captain Blood, you've got to be kidding me, I thought. But then he explained that he saw Against All Flags a lot as a kid and only saw Captain Blood for the first time some years later. Ah, I said, you saw Against All Flags as a kid. Say no more. Childhood nostalgia strikes again.

Outside of those who enjoy watching Hollywood veterans in small parts in a film, I guess that They Only Kill Their Masters will primarily appeal to Garner fans. I've been one ever since I caught Maverick in syndication on TV when I was a kid. He was a very solid actor, of course, capable of playing either comedy or drama. But it was that engaging down to earth personality, coupled with his charm and adroit ability at bringing humour to a scene that made him a unique screen personality and performer. Even though he was, when he was in his prime years, at least, an incredibly good looking guy Garner came across as a regular guy who was one of us. When he died a few years ago I felt like I had lost a friend.

Speaking for myself I must say that a very large number of my movie favourites are, indeed, films that I enjoyed on television as a kid. It's always a particular joy, of course, when you think those films hold up well. But even in the case of many (not all) of those that don't stand the test of time so well when viewed through adult eyes I will still have a sentimental feel for the pleasure that they had once brought me as a young person. Now I have seen any of a number of fine films made within the past 20 years or so. Yet I'm hard pressed that any of them have the same emotional pull for me as do those films that I enjoyed during those years that first introduced me to the movies and for the next ten or fifteen years or so beyond that, as well. Among those that I adored as a kid that still excite me and I regard as all time favourites: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. I recall first watching this film as I sat on Dad's lap and covering my eyes with my hands (though peaking through my fingers, of course) whenever the Wolf Man appeared. Captain Blood. Aye, matey, ahoy and watch those sails fill with the breeze that will take us all to freedom! My love affair with anything Errol Flynn pretty well began with this pirate flick, which also made me a fan of swashbucklers in general. The Mark of Zorro. Another stylish swashbuckler that thrilled me (still does!) and had me writing a fan letter to Basil Rathbone. Lives of a Bengal Lancer. It's the British Empire at the Khyber Pass and an incredibly heroic Gary Cooper out to save that empire. Later I saw Gunga Din and The Four Feathers but my love of these kind of (politically dated and frequently racially insensitive) adventures began with countless views of this one on the TV. Treasure of the Sierra Madre. More adventure for my adventure loving young heart, though coupled this time with adult themes involving greed and human frailty. Bogart, Huston, Holt and that Gold Hat Bandit, saw them all as a kid, and continue to put this classic on again every few years. It still never fails to entertain me. So how about other posters here? How much of a role does childhood nostalgia play for you when you come to choosing your film favourites today?

All this Lawrence talk reminds me of one of my favourite lines in GHOST BREAKERS when Bob Hope identifies himself as Lawrence Lawrence. "Yeh, and my middle name is Lawrence, too. My folks had no imagination."

Since my earlier post on this thread did not become the most popular one on it I completely agree with you, MissW. WHAT DO WE CARE WHAT THE MOST POPULAR POST IS! WHAT IS THIS, HIGH SCHOOL?

They Only Kill Their Masters (1972) Mystery about a small town sheriff (James Garner) who is investigating the death of a woman who appears to have been killed by her doberman. Of course, all is not as it initially appears. Katharine Ross appears as a vet assistant who gets into a relationship with Garner (rather abruptly) along with Hal Holbrook as the town veterinarian. There is a bit of charm to be found in any film in which the police force is so strapped for cash that they have to share two cars and, on occasion, catch a cab in order to get to work. Ultimately the film is disappointing as its story (for me, at least) starts to become a little complicated. Nevertheless I still found this production a relatively enjoyable experience due to a superior supporting cast of Hollywood veterans, including Tom Ewell, Ann Rutherford, Harry Guardino, Peter Lawford, Arthur O'Connell, Edmond O'Brien and June Allyson. Even more than that, however, the film benefits from its central casting of Garner as the sheriff. This is not one of the actor's more prestigious roles or films but it's a pleasure to watch him during the peak period of his career as a performer, when his laid back charm, as well as those moments of gentle humour that he could bring to a role, made him one of the most likable and engaging actors to watch on the screen, even in a minor effort such as this. The start of his great TV run in The Rockford Files was only two years away when he appeared in this film. 2.5 out of 4